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Atlas Newsletter – August 2008

Beijing issues guidelines to avert cultural faux pas at the Olympics

Chinese Officials, concerned about how the country's image is portrayed by international media during the Beijing Olympics, have issued citizens with guidelines on how to behave. To ensure that the Chinese citizens present their most civilised face throughout the Games, the propaganda department of Beijing's Dongcheng District has launched several campaigns along with a special booklet designed to stamp out bad habits.

swimming pool

The booklet, published prior to the commencement of the Games on 8 th August, contains a special section on dealing with foreigners and includes advice on how overseas visitors should be spoken to. It details subjects to be avoided in conversation, such as salaries and spending, age, marital status, questions on health, religious and political beliefs.

Beijingers are also encouraged to smile, not to stare or do anything to make people feel ill at ease. They are advised not to pick their noses, play with their fingernails, yawn or scratch their heads when talking to foreigners.

In addition, the booklet reminds citizens to be cautious when being interviewed by foreign journalists, warning them not to say or do anything that harms national prestige, the country's image or national security.

Officials have also launched a queuing campaign and designated the 11th day of the month as Queuing Day, with the aim of preventing barging onto buses and trains. These campaigns have received a positive response from local citizens.

Language barrier spelt disaster for Henry VIII's Mary Rose

According to recent reports, The Mary Rose disaster could have been averted by the presence of translators on board.

The mystery surrounding the sinking of this warship, which was lost during a battle with French invaders in July 1545, still poses one of the biggest puzzles of British naval history. Over the years, many theories have been put forward to try to unravel this mystery. The most popular amongst these theories states that the ship dipped its side too low into the water during a tight turn, allowing water to flood in through unsecured gun ports and causing it to sink.

However, researchers have recently suggested that the real cause could have been a delay between orders being given by English-speaking officers on the boat and then being interpreted and understood by foreign crewmembers.

Forensic tests on the teeth of 18 crewmen suggest that up to 60 percent of the crew may not have been British. Furthermore, only months prior to the disaster, over 600 captured Spanish soldiers had sought refuge in England after their boats were caught in a storm. These stranded men were quite probably forced to serve in Britain's navy, into which other sailors from mainland Europe had already been recruited to help ease a shortage of crew.

In a television documentary soon to be aired on Britain's Channel Five network ( www.five.tv ), researchers claim that some of these men could have ended up on the Mary Rose. According to a Channel Five spokesperson:

"It looks like the Mary Rose was a ship lost in translation… In the heat of battle, at a moment when the ship was attempting to make a quick manoeuvre, the order to close the gun port lids may not have been understood."

Atlas Beginners Voiceover Course

Atlas is to hold its next Voice over course for beginners on Saturday 18th October in London. There are currently only seven places left on the daylong course, which has previously proved to be extremely successful, so hurry if you wish to book a place! Please contact Sara Roden-Scott on sara@atlas-translations.co.uk for more information.

ITI BBQ

Some of the Atlas girls recently attended a barbeque held by one of the company's suppliers for fellow members of the Institute for Translation and Interpreting (ITI).

“The event was hosted by Yilmaz, one of Atlas' Turkish interpreters, and his wife, who were excellent hosts and made us feel extremely welcome. They even organised a very tasty Turkish style BBQ!

We were introduced to to some very interesting people. We met Betty Moser, one of Atlas' German translators and Daniel, a voice-over artist who also works for Atlas, amongst others.

I asked the attendees their advice regarding how one starts out as a translator with no experience and they basically stated the obvious: "accept everything at next to nothing!" They also suggested doing some voluntary translation work in order to gain experience, get some good references and contribute to a good cause.”

Sara Roden-Scott

“I was very happy to be invited to the ITI barbecue -as an aspiring freelancer it was a great opportunity to meet experienced individuals in the translation and interpreting fields.

The event really met my expectations, as I received plenty of advice on how to start my career and gained a real insight into the profession. I believe that networking is essential in the highly competitive world we live in.

Moreover, the homemade Turkish food was abundant and very tasty. I could not get enough of the baklavas!”

Delphine Bartouilh

Could translation services offered by emerging economies impact upon professional standards within the EU?

Following a meeting between Atlas Translations and an Indian based translation company; Work Placement Student Natalia offers her thoughts on the changing market for translation services…

I think it's really interesting to see how quickly the translation industry is developing in countries with such rapidly growing economic potential. In the short term, this can be seen as a positive thing, since European agencies and businesses can reap immediate cost benefits from the lower rates charged by these suppliers.

However, it's important to recognise that paying lower rates often means compromising on quality. Clients are not always aware how important it is to hire a suitably qualified translator, so choosing the cheapest option often makes sense.

All translators used by Atlas are carefully vetted -they must hold a professional qualification; have excellent references and the relevant experience. Yet, this is not always the case with other translation service providers, who may hire inexperienced translators, allow their translators to translate into a language other than their mother tongue or outside of their field of specialisation.

Unfortunately for those in the profession, lack of education often means that it is likely businesses will be tempted by those offering the lowest rates. Not only would this lead to a drop in standards, it would also inevitably have a knock-on effect on the domestic market, meaning that highly experienced, professional translators would be forced to either lower their rates or be pushed out.

Atlas news in brief

This month the Atlas team would like to welcome new Work Placement Student Nicola Socco (male) from Italy.

They also wish ‘bon voyage' to Quality Manager Anna Davies, who is jetting off to sunny Cyprus on holiday this week.

Finally, ‘hello' to Atlas Director Clare and her baby Madeleine, who recently visited the office together for the first time. Both mother and daughter are doing really well and the whole team were very excited to see them.

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Anna Davies or Clare Suttie
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